Torso molding undergarments



1965 P. J. MORANO TORSO MOLDING UNDERGARMENTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 6, 1962 INVENTOR:

PATRICK J. MORANO Feb. 2, 1965 P. J. MORANO 3,168,099

ToRsb MOLDING UNDERGARMENTS Filed June 6, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l6b I60 :aw

3| INVENTOR:

PATRICK J. MORANO Feb. 2, 1965 P. J. MORANO TORSO MOLDING UNDERGARMENTS 3 m t I e .A m R m 5 M m E m fla S NK 3 CM/ R V. PB

Filed June 6, 1962 United States Patent ()filice 3,168,099 Patented Feb. 2, 1965 3,168,099 TORSO MOLDING UNDERGARMENTS Patrick J. Morano, Newark, N.J., assignor to Glamorise Foundations, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 6, 1962, Ser. No. 200,500 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-547) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in torso constricting and molding undergarments or socalled foundation garments of the general type which in cludes girdles, panty girdles, corsets, corselets, waist reducing belts and also garter belts, the latter being included in that the teachings of the invention are also applicable thereto, even if conventional garter belts are primarily used for hose suspension rather than for torso molding purposes.

As is well known, girdle type undergarments, made wholly or partly of elastic material, endeavor to slenderize and contour the abdomen by a circumferentially acting, resilient compressive force which reduces the waist line, shapes the curvature of the hips, rounds out the gluteal region, and flattens and stomach wall. While conventional garments of this type are generally satisfactory, their torso molding ability is not full fashioned as is, for example, a stocking to a leg. In other words, the magnitude of constrictive force required to properly slim the waist line is greater than that which is needed to shape the hip line below the waist, and since conventional garments did not compensate for such differences, efforts have been made in the past to accentuate the waist line slimming action by the use of an elastic waist band in the garment, commonly known as a waist-cincher, to assist the garment in exerting the desired amount of constricting force at the waist line. However, while the provision of the waist cinching band was a forward step in the art, in itself it created further difficulties in that its constrictive action Was concentrated along a relatively narrow waist band without exerting its influence toward flattening the relatively wider expanse of the front abdominal wall. Moreover, in the concentration of the relatively narrow waist band, the constrictive forces were distributed moreor-less uniformly along the circumference of the band, without regard to the fact that a greater magnitude of constrictive force is required to properly flatten the waist at the front than at the sides and the back.

It is, therefore, the principal object of ths invention to eliminate the various disadvantages above outlined and to further advance the state of the art by providing a torso molding undergarment with a waist cinching band which is fashioned so as to facilitate application of a proper amount of constricting or tensioning force at proper regions of the garment in order to effectively slim true the waist line and flatten the front abdominal wall without impairing or otherwise interfering with the normal action of the garment in shaping the hips and the gluteal region.

As such, the invention concerns itself primarily with the waist band structure in relation to the front, sides and back of the garment, and while the teachings of the invention are applicable to garments of the conventional type which extend downwardly far enough to cover the hypogastrium, the invention may well be embodied in garments which leave the pubic region exposed, such as for example, in abdominally short girdles, corselets, or garter belts. Depending upon the requirements of the user, such garments may or may not be equipped with the usual hose suspenders, without affecting the torso molding characteristics of the invention.

With the foregong more important object and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following decription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of the invention embodied in a short girdle or garter belt and illustrating the same upon the body of a user;

FIGURE 2 is a rear perspective view of the subject shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary rear perspective view, similar to that shown in FIGURE 2 but illustrating a modified embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the garment of FIGURES 1 and 2 in a flat, relaxed form;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing the inside of the right hand end portion of the garment shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional detail, taken substantially in the plane of the line 6-6 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional detail, taken substantially in the plane of the line 7-7 in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary plane view, similar to that shown in FIGURE 4 but illustrating the embodiment of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 9 is a front perspective view showing the invention embodied in a corselet; and

FIGURE 10 is a rear perspective view of the subject shown in FIGURE 9.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, more particularly to FIGURES 1, 2 and 4-7, the general reference numeral 15 designates a torso molding undergarment which may serve as a. girdle or a garter belt and which embodies in its construction a front panel 16 of non-elastic material, a pair of side panels 17 which are preferably of two-way stretch elastic, and a back panel 18 which may also be of non-elastic material, as the front panel 16. The front panel 16 is composed of two complemental half-sections 16, 16", and any suitable separable fastening means, such as eyes 19 on the section 16 and hooks 20 on the section 16", are employed for separably connecting the panel sections together at the vertical medial line of the front panel, so as to facilitate donning and removal of the entire garment. As will be appreciated, a conventional slide fastener may be employed in place of the hooks and eyes.

The essence of novelty of the invention resides in the provision and arrangement of an elastic waist constricting or cinching band 21 which is superposed on the outer surface of the side panels 17 and rear panel 18 and has its front ends secured to the opposite outer side edges of the front panel 16 by the same lines of stitching 22 which serve to secure the side panels 17 to the front panel. The waist band 21 is preferably made in two sections 21, 21" which have free rear ends separably and adjustably connected together by suitable hook and eye means 23, 24 at the back of the undergarment, these connecting means permitting the length and tensioning of the band 21 to be adjusted as desired. It is to be noted that the entire length of the band 21 between its front ends secured at the seams 22 is entirely free of attachment to the side and back panels 17, 18, so that in stretching or relaxing, the band is free to move in a circumferential direction on the underlying side and back panels. However, in order to positively prevent the back region of the band from moving vertically of the garment, a pair of transversely spaced loops 25 are provided and have the band extending slidably therethrough. The loops 25 are preferably held in place by lines of stitching 26 which secure the side panels 17 to the side edges of the back panel 18.

As 'will be readily observed, the band 21 is disposed directly at the waist line and is spaced downwardly from the upper edge of the garment, so that the upper edge portion of the garment extends somewhat above the waist. 'In order to prevent this upper edge portion from rolling downwardly, a plurality of conventional bones or stays 27 are provided, two of them being located at the seams 22 connecting the front panel 16 to the side panels 17, two more at the seams 26 connecting the side panels to the back panel 18, and two more intermediate the side panels 17 as shown best in FIGURE 4 and in the typical crosssection of FIGURE 6.

The front panel sections 16', 16 are of a special construction, each comprising an outer material layer 16a and an inner layer 16b. The upper and lower edges of these two layers are free of each other, but their side edges are connected together by the seam 22 at one side and by a seam 28 at the other. A plurality of tension distributing strips 29, 30, 31 are disposed between the layers 16a, 16b

and stitched along their side edges as at 32 to the outer surface of the inner layer 1612. The strips 29, 30, 31 are formed from non-elastic material and are disposed obliquely of the front panel sections so that the strips 29 extend upwardly from the ends of the waist band 21, the

strips 30 downwardly from the ends of the band, and the strips 31 downwardly from the strips 30, in the manner clearly shown by the drawings.

When the garment is worn, the waist cinching band 21 exerts an elastic tensioning'force on the side edges of the front panel 16 and causes the front panel to flatten, not only in the waist region, but above as well as below the same, since the tensioning force of the band is effectively distributed throughout the front panel by the tension distributing strips 29, 30, 31. As already noted, the tensioning force may be adjusted by the means 23, 24. The inner material layer 16b of the front panel sections 16, 16" may be of a smaller'vertical dimension than the outer layer 16a, the upper and lower edges of the inner layer 16b preferably coinciding with the upper and lower edges of the strips 29 and 31, respectively.

FIGURES 3 and 8 illustrate a somewhat modified embodiment of the invention wherein the waist band means comprise a pair of elastic band members 35 in place of the aforementioned band 21. The band members 35 have their front ends secured at the seams 22 to the side edges of the front panel 16, while their rear ends are secured at the seams 26 to the side edges of the rear panel 18, so that in a circumferential direction the bands 35 extend only across the side panels 17. The bands 35 thus exert a tensioning force not only on the front panel, but also on the back panel, but otherwise the construction of the garment is the same as already described.

FIGURES 9 and 10 illustrate the invention embodied in a corselet type garment 40 which includes a brassiere portion 41 and a body portion 42 of two-way stretch elastic material with a non-elastic front panel 43. For purposes of donning and removal, the garment is provided along the vertical medial line of its front with a separable sl de fas e er 44 and he e astic wa st band 45 in th s instance extends continuously around the sides and back of the garment body 42, having its ends secured to side edges of the front panel 43 by thestitching 46. In a garment of this type, the Waist band does not have a tendency to shift vertically at the sides and back-and consequently, guide loops such as the loops 25 on the garment 15 are not necessary. However, the tension distributing strips (29, 30, 31) are also provided in the front panel 43 so that the flattening effect of the elastic waist band is properly distributed over the entire abdomen.

In all instances the garments may be equipped with suitable hose suspenders 47, if so desired.

While in the foregoing there have been shown and described the preferred-embodiments of the'invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure, and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to,'falling within thespirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is: y

1. In a torso molding undergarment, the combination of a back section, a pair of side sections extending forwardly therefrom and having a pair of transversely spaced apart front edges, a front panel of non-elastic material having a pair of side edges connected to the front edges of the respective side sections, and a circumferentially tensioned elastic waistband having its ends secured to the respective side edges of said front panel at the connection of said side edges to the front edges of said side sections, said band being superposed on and extending continuously around said side sections and said back section without said front panel being traversed by the, band, the securing of the ends of'said band to said: side edges of said front panel serving to tension the front panel and flatten the abdominal region under the same when the undergarment is worn, the entire length ofsaid bandbeing detached from said side'sections and'said'back section and being freely movable thereover in a circumferential direction. a

2. The undergarment as defined in claim 1 together with 'a guide loop provided on said back section, saidband passing slidably through said guide loop and the guide loop preventing vertical shifting of the band while permitting movement thereof in a circumferential direction.

3. The undergarment as defined in claim 1 wherein said -band comprises a pair of coacting band members having free adjacent ends superposed on said back section,-and

means for adjustably and separably connecting the free ends of said band members to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A TORSO MOLDING UNDERGARMENT, THE COMBINATION OF A BACK SECTION, A PAIR OF SIDE SECTIONS EXTENDING FORWARDLY THEREFROM AND HAVING A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED APART FRONT EDGES, A FRONT PANEL OF NON-ELASTIC MATERIAL HAVING A PAIR OF SIDE EDGES CONNECTED TO THE FRONT EDGES OF THE RESPECTIVE SIDE SECTIONS, AND A CIRCUMFERENTIALLY TENSIONED ELASTIC WAISTBAND HAAVING ITS ENDS SECURED TO THE RESPECTIVE SIDE EDGES OF SAID FRONT PANEL AT THE CONNECTION OF SAID SIDE EDGES TO THE FRONT EDGES OF SAID SECTIONS, SAID BAND BEING SUPERPOSED ON AND EXTENDING CONTINUOUSLY AROUND SAID SIDE SECTIONS AND SAID BACK SECTION WITHOUT SAID FRONT PANEL BEING TRANSVERSED BY THE BAND, THE SECURING OF THE ENDS OF SAID BAND TO SAID SIDE EDGES OF SAID FRONT PANEL SERVING TO TENSION THE FRONT PANEL AND FLATTEN THE ABDOMINAL REGION UNDER THE SAME WHEN THE UNDERGARMENT IS WORN THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF SAID BAND BEING DETACHED FROM SAID SAID SECTIONS AND SAID BACK SECTION AND BEING FREELY MOVABLE THEREOVER IN A CIRCUMFERENTIAL DIRECTION. 